Great story and wise words of caution in the comments. In my previous operating life as a Royal Signals relay operator I had the misfortune to see a SCAM12 (Clark’s) mast come down. The lads putting it up had snagged a guy line and it pulled itself down when something gave way. Luckily no one was injured and even more lucky those masts are built to last.
Callum, OMG, memories of my failed tower experiment. In '71 I'm a new novice. From the ARRL manual I built an "A" frame antenna of wood, mounted to the roof of our concrete house in Puerto Rico. My wife hated it, but it was what we could afford. Comes a major squall and a guy wire parts, down the antenna came, the tip with its bolts and connectors falling on top of my neighbors new car (1 week old), smashing its windshield. The XYL banned me from ham radio for years because of it. 😂
Great thing to do! I put up a 105' 60mm dia pole once, not using a falling derrick, but using a gin pole and climbing to the top of each section, hauling up the next section with guys attached, dropping it into the coupler then attaching and tensioning the guys. Hard, and hairy work! We actually did this a few times at various sites, 60', 75' usually but the 105' was the highest. It stayed up for a couple of years until we had no further use for it and took it down. These were 5mm steel guys; I wish we'd had Mastrand then, it would have been a lot lighter.
Excellent engineering to raise and lower the pole. Not sure that project would be much fun but it would give you a great sense of satisfaction to get it up and working. Great detail pictures as well. Thanks! Jack K5FIT
Hi Cal, Excellent way to demonstrate how you raised that tower with a minimum of assistance. When I wanted to put up a 77 ft tubular crank up tower out back, I had to supply engineering drawings to the township engineer for approval. The township engineer said the drawings were sufficient, but he mentioned that if the tower were to fall while fully extended, it had to fall within our property line. Had to settle for a 45 ft tower instead. It still works today, but did a complete refurbish four years ago and also changed the winch cables to aircraft grade stainless steel. You and the family stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Great stuff Callum a simple and easy way to get going the toughest part would be sourcing the parts for the poles but doable on a side note I'm glad the 12.4 don't take as much as this does to stand up and let down😎😎😎de W9US
Hi Cal. Reminded me of back in the cb days, 2 scaffold poles with a silver rod on top. 3 of us erecting it. The mast was nearly vertical and the tip of the silver rod was still on the floor...came up like a giant whip. Happy days.
Yes Callum. Love your stories great laugh too bad I'm not close by you it would be great fun to get on the air with you. I once tried to make a 33'foot tall mast 4 times out of USA fibre glass tent poles. For a horizontal loop. Well you should have seen the spectacular crash and splintered parts when it came crashing down in the night even with three guy points per mast so i was trying to make them independent the tension on the loop was too much. Yes great fun.😇
I recall doing this with the radio club, in Norfolk I think. It went very wrong and we ended up with scrap metal poles. Someone took a bent section and engraved it with the date of the Field Day and it hung in the club shack for years as a reminder of how not to do it. No one was hurt, just our pride. But Fun!
Ah You did this too Ron? I also remember G4BUO did this too - but he only mentioned it in passing at one RSGB conference. PS - Love the engraved pole!!
Seriously, looks like a dangerous project to undertake. So many things could go wrong. Hard hat and steel cap boots at the very least protection required.
That blue polypropylene rope is short-lived. Ok for a year or two but when you come to year three it starts to fall apart. Not something you want holding up a mast. Got the t-shirt on that one. Last year I rebuilt the mast using 8mm starter cord, which is internal and external weave.
Indeed which is why I said for perm use, go with Mastrant (see end of video). Something like this would be probably ideal: www.mastrant.com/on-line-shop/product/3901-guyrope-mastrant-p-5-mm-3-16-in
Just got home from work and discovered my 10 meter beam was toppled over and the A-frame all bent. I instantly knew what failed. Now the fun of going out in the snow and fixing it.
When i put up my 20 foot mast for my half wave cb ant 5 gallon drum concrete buried in ground three feet with steel pole and twenty foot aluminium pole with coach bolts in them when i wanted to tilt it down i just took two bolts out and lowerd to the ground easy this stood up in 80 mph gales neve fell down no guy ropes
Great advice and lessons learned. It would take some time to get it all built the first time but how long did it take to erect the second time as you had all the guys made? Tim
Hi Tim.. It's about a 3 hour installation I think I remember. We had all the ropes marked up and on drums for each guy point - even a special "measuring rope" between the base and each guy point (to keep distance correct). It was about 5-6 hours the first time ever - then probably 3-hours to re-deploy, something like that.
Just my opinion, you should build it so rotator is at the bottom and turns the whole tower. That way you don't have the extra weight at the top. Qrz my call and I have pictures of mine that I built. 73 de AC8GF
you never sees to amaze me with what you are doing but to get my R8 back up we used a swivel ,all my antennas are back up now and now i am reading the news on 2 mtrs 70 cms ,dmr 6 mtrs and now 4 mtrs but last week I accidently plugged my R8 into my 4 mtr amp and guess what well that will not be used any more and the replacement transistor is nearly what i paid for the amp .any way love watching what you are up to G0VVT
I did a 50’ mast using two twenty one foot gal fence top rail and one 10.5 on top guyed at two levels as my feed point support mast and it was a pain in the rear end to get upright. Thankfully I had a tree near by to pull from but that left a rope getting in the way of guys and pulley lines 😑made it work till a neighbors landscaping guy hooked my guy lines on his out rigger and bent it to hell. I re-erected a second mast thankfully was able to use the guys and lift the top by pulley from the previous tree line made it easy but again the idiot landscapers did it again. So I move to another tree and have the feed point being supported by it instead. Next step is to erect a scaffolding tower 40/60’ that way it’s easier to climb and less likely to fall from missing one guy.
@@DXCommanderHQ it sucks but short of fencing off my yard, I don’t think anything else would work. I used 36” steel 3/4” spikes used florescent orange caps on the spike, used blue n silver reflective rope and hung bright orange streamers on the guy lines from ground level up 10’ and sadly two of the three were on my property line, where the mower guy snagged them 😡in the end it turned positive as the balanced feed was coupling to the galvanized pole and adding 2-3s units of extra noise ? Tuning points drastically changed on low band ? I was only close to the pole at the very top I d say
Yikes, folks; I am not a mechanical expert, but I think you have to really know what you're doing to do something like this..... Sorry to have to say it, but this is where the "amateur", in amateur radio, could easily cost a life......
Great story and wise words of caution in the comments. In my previous operating life as a Royal Signals relay operator I had the misfortune to see a SCAM12 (Clark’s) mast come down. The lads putting it up had snagged a guy line and it pulled itself down when something gave way. Luckily no one was injured and even more lucky those masts are built to last.
Yes, snagging guy lines are a danger.. Well said.
As I was watching this. Gin Pole came to mind. Compliments US Army Signal Corp. 65-68
Callum, OMG, memories of my failed tower experiment. In '71 I'm a new novice. From the ARRL manual I built an "A" frame antenna of wood, mounted to the roof of our concrete house in Puerto Rico. My wife hated it, but it was what we could afford. Comes a major squall and a guy wire parts, down the antenna came, the tip with its bolts and connectors falling on top of my neighbors new car (1 week old), smashing its windshield. The XYL banned me from ham radio for years because of it. 😂
OMG Mike!!!
Great thing to do! I put up a 105' 60mm dia pole once, not using a falling derrick, but using a gin pole and climbing to the top of each section, hauling up the next section with guys attached, dropping it into the coupler then attaching and tensioning the guys. Hard, and hairy work!
We actually did this a few times at various sites, 60', 75' usually but the 105' was the highest. It stayed up for a couple of years until we had no further use for it and took it down.
These were 5mm steel guys; I wish we'd had Mastrand then, it would have been a lot lighter.
Wow Andy!!!
Excellent engineering to raise and lower the pole. Not sure that project would be much fun but it would give you a great sense of satisfaction to get it up and working. Great detail pictures as well. Thanks! Jack K5FIT
Yeah Jack, it was a good exercise. I enjoyed thinking it all through - and everything that could go wrong. In the main, it worked a charm.
Hi Cal,
Excellent way to demonstrate how you raised that tower with a minimum of assistance. When I wanted to put up a 77 ft tubular crank up tower out back, I had to supply engineering drawings to the township engineer for approval. The township engineer said the drawings were sufficient, but he mentioned that if the tower were to fall while fully extended, it had to fall within our property line. Had to settle for a 45 ft tower instead. It still works today, but did a complete refurbish four years ago and also changed the winch cables to aircraft grade stainless steel. You and the family stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Nice one Don.
Great stuff Callum a simple and easy way to get going the toughest part would be sourcing the parts for the poles but doable on a side note I'm glad the 12.4 don't take as much as this does to stand up and let down😎😎😎de W9US
Haha yes!
Hi Cal. Reminded me of back in the cb days, 2 scaffold poles with a silver rod on top. 3 of us erecting it. The mast was nearly vertical and the tip of the silver rod was still on the floor...came up like a giant whip. Happy days.
Woo-hoo! Yeah, been there too :)
fantastic idea with the falling derrick
Yes Callum. Love your stories great laugh too bad I'm not close by you it would be great fun to get on the air with you. I once tried to make a 33'foot tall mast 4 times out of USA fibre glass tent poles. For a horizontal loop. Well you should have seen the spectacular crash and splintered parts when it came crashing down in the night even with three guy points per mast so i was trying to make them independent the tension on the loop was too much. Yes great fun.😇
Yeah, tension is a bugger! :)
I recall doing this with the radio club, in Norfolk I think. It went very wrong and we ended up with scrap metal poles. Someone took a bent section and engraved it with the date of the Field Day and it hung in the club shack for years as a reminder of how not to do it. No one was hurt, just our pride. But Fun!
Ah You did this too Ron? I also remember G4BUO did this too - but he only mentioned it in passing at one RSGB conference. PS - Love the engraved pole!!
@@DXCommanderHQ We upgraded to a fold over lattice tower, safer but not as much fun.
Love it - plenty of close up detail pictures are a must for maximum project enjoyment and learning/improving.
APPROVED
Yes! Thank you!
I haven't got the room but the voyuer in me think this is cool
Seriously, looks like a dangerous project to undertake. So many things could go wrong. Hard hat and steel cap boots at the very least protection required.
Like all these things.. You need to think them through and check your work - knots, connections and failure points. Lots of things are dangerous.
Fascinating watch. Thanks, Cal!!
Much appreciated!
That blue polypropylene rope is short-lived. Ok for a year or two but when you come to year three it starts to fall apart. Not something you want holding up a mast.
Got the t-shirt on that one.
Last year I rebuilt the mast using 8mm starter cord, which is internal and external weave.
Indeed which is why I said for perm use, go with Mastrant (see end of video). Something like this would be probably ideal: www.mastrant.com/on-line-shop/product/3901-guyrope-mastrant-p-5-mm-3-16-in
Just got home from work and discovered my 10 meter beam was toppled over and the A-frame all bent. I instantly knew what failed. Now the fun of going out in the snow and fixing it.
Oh hell!
Just use a cut down start picket.
When i put up my 20 foot mast for my half wave cb ant 5 gallon drum concrete buried in ground three feet with steel pole and twenty foot aluminium pole with coach bolts in them when i wanted to tilt it down i just took two bolts out and lowerd to the ground easy this stood up in 80 mph gales neve fell down no guy ropes
Now do it for 60 feet :)
I must soon buy a dx commander do have small back yard.
Alun, don't worry - small radials still work :)
Great advice and lessons learned. It would take some time to get it all built the first time but how long did it take to erect the second time as you had all the guys made?
Tim
Hi Tim.. It's about a 3 hour installation I think I remember. We had all the ropes marked up and on drums for each guy point - even a special "measuring rope" between the base and each guy point (to keep distance correct). It was about 5-6 hours the first time ever - then probably 3-hours to re-deploy, something like that.
Just my opinion, you should build it so rotator is at the bottom and turns the whole tower. That way you don't have the extra weight at the top. Qrz my call and I have pictures of mine that I built. 73 de AC8GF
G0CNN uses a rotator in a cage for /p contesting, check his out @ianxfs for some great use of chopping board.
Yes, it's just the engineering becomes more expensive. This is cheap and the rotator wasn't that heavy anyway.
you never sees to amaze me with what you are doing but to get my R8 back up we used a swivel ,all my antennas are back up now and now i am reading the news on 2 mtrs 70 cms ,dmr 6 mtrs and now 4 mtrs but last week I accidently plugged my R8 into my 4 mtr amp and guess what well that will not be used any more and the replacement transistor is nearly what i paid for the amp .any way love watching what you are up to
G0VVT
Oh no Eddie!
It's not easy, but it's easy.
Haha yes!
Archimedes 2.0👍
Lol...i think that is part of it Cal
oops should have gone to b&q
more fun building it than using it
It was certainly hilarious.
I did a 50’ mast using two twenty one foot gal fence top rail and one 10.5 on top guyed at two levels as my feed point support mast and it was a pain in the rear end to get upright. Thankfully I had a tree near by to pull from but that left a rope getting in the way of guys and pulley lines 😑made it work till a neighbors landscaping guy hooked my guy lines on his out rigger and bent it to hell. I re-erected a second mast thankfully was able to use the guys and lift the top by pulley from the previous tree line made it easy but again the idiot landscapers did it again. So I move to another tree and have the feed point being supported by it instead. Next step is to erect a scaffolding tower 40/60’ that way it’s easier to climb and less likely to fall from missing one guy.
Oh geez!
@@DXCommanderHQ it sucks but short of fencing off my yard, I don’t think anything else would work. I used 36” steel 3/4” spikes used florescent orange caps on the spike, used blue n silver reflective rope and hung bright orange streamers on the guy lines from ground level up 10’ and sadly two of the three were on my property line, where the mower guy snagged them 😡in the end it turned positive as the balanced feed was coupling to the galvanized pole and adding 2-3s units of extra noise ? Tuning points drastically changed on low band ? I was only close to the pole at the very top I d say
frustrated engineering
No frustration around here - we go and build! You carry on tuning your wet noodles Jon! :)
@@DXCommanderHQ yep that is all I do
Yikes, folks; I am not a mechanical expert, but I think you have to really know what you're doing to do something like this..... Sorry to have to say it, but this is where the "amateur", in amateur radio, could easily cost a life......
Life is risky. In the US, over 100 people a year die using a ladder.
Poly rope is a poor choice. There are better ropes that perform much better.
There are - but for a temp solution - I proved it works. For perm use go with Mastrant.
What’s ya work / company email Cal. 👍🇦🇺🥃
See dxcommander.com :)